Sources:
Letters of the Tsaritsa to the Tsar, 1914-1916, published by Duckworth & Co., 1923
The letter:
No. 108.
Tsarskoje Selo, Aug. 31-st 1915
My sweet Beloved,
Again a sunny day — I find the weather ideal, but Olga freezes, its true, the "fond de l'air" is fresh. — I am glad you had a good talk with the old one as our Friend calls Gorem. — what you mention as having put off till your return, I suppose means the change of the Minister of the Interior — how good if you could see Khvostov & have a real talk with him & see whether he would make the same favorable, honest, loyal, energetic opinion on you as upon A. — But the Duma, I hope will at once be closed. —
Paul is not well, suffers, has fever, a colique wh. he has not had for many months, so is in bed — besides he is worried about D. If I could get some sort of an answer about himself, if you can make use of him at the front or H.-Q. & whether you are not sending D. to his regiment — I could go & tell him this. — Wont you send for Misha to stay a bit with you before he returns, would be so nice & homely for you, & good to get him away from her & yr. brother is the one to be with you. I am sure, you feel more lonely since you left the train — alone in a house for breakfast & tea must be sad. Will you come nearer? — And when about do you think of returning for a few days — difficult to say no doubt, but I mean on account of changing Stcherbatchev & "macking" the Ministers, whose behaviour to the old man & cowardice, disgust me. — I went this morning to Znam. with my candels, there I picked up A. & we went to the red Cross. She sat for an hour with her friend, whilst I went over both houses. The joy of the officers, that you have taken over the command, is colossal, & surety of success. Groten looks well but pale. Then I went to our hospital & sat in the different wards. After lunch I received, then went to A.'s to see Alia's husband who leaves for the war again to-morrow, & she with her Children to town. We took a nice drive — lunched & had tea on the balkony.
Now Baby has begged me to take him to Anias to see Irina T. & Rita H., but I wont remain there & shall finish this when I return.
Well, I sat there 20 m. & then I went to pray & place candles for you my Treasure, my own sweet Sunshine. One says you are returning on the 4-th for a committee of ministers?! Aeroplans are flying again overhead with much noise. — Baby has written his letter quite by himself, only asked Peter Vass. when not sure about the spelling. Gr.s wife has quickly left, hoping to see her Son still is so anxious for Gr.'s life now. —
Goodbye my Angel. God bless, protect you & help you in all. Very tenderest kisses Nicky love, fr. yr. own old
Sunny.
How nice that you saw Keller, such a comfort to him I am sure.
Nicholas's telegram:
Telegram. Stavka. 31 August, 1915.
I have received all your letters; hearty thanks. I have been very busy for the past few days, so could not write. I thank the girls for their letters. The weather is lovely. It would be better for us if it rained more. I kiss all of you fondly. Nicky.
Nicholas's letter:
Mogiliev. 31 August. 1915.
MY PRECIOUS, DARLING WIFY,
How grateful I am to you for you dear letters! In my loneliness they are my only consolation, and I look forward to them with impatience, but I never know when they will arrive.
During the time of fasting I went to church daily — either in the morning or in the evening — and was, moreover, occupied with Alexeiev, so that I had little time left for writing letters, and I have, naturally, neglected my usual papers.
Here I go out once only after dinner, although there is a very small garden here, adjoining the Governor's house, bathed in sunshine and prettily laid out.
What do the children say to my living in the Governor's house? He is an excellent, clever and energetic man. His surname is ugly — Pilz; that is why there are so many mushrooms around here! We eat them every day, and the foreigners are beginning to like them, especially the Japanese General.
Sandro spent two days here. He appeared with the Report, and then we had a long and interesting talk. He is very pleased with the change; he told me the same thing that Nicolai M. wrote to you, and was amazed at my enduring this false position for so long.
He has now gone to Smolensk. Yesterday Kyrill arrived here. I was very glad to see the charming Keller, who came quite unexpectedly, and departed the same evening for his Cavalry Corps. Unfortunately I could not speak to him for long, as old Goremykin arrived to the same morning: it was a Sunday. I received the old man after lunch — but, at any rate, I talked to Keller across the table, and everybody listened to the interesting things he spoke of.
He asked me to convey to you his deepest respects and gratitude. I am glad that Alexeiev has a high opinion of him too. I can see that you think Mogilev too far removed from home. If you remember, I thought so too before my coming here; but now I think it is the most suitable place. It is situated in the centre behind the whole of our front, to one side of the main movement of the troops, and so on. From Tsarskoe Selo it is no further than Vilna, and when the railways begin to work normally again it will not seem far at all.
Now a few words about the military situation. It looks threatening in the direction of Dvinsk and Vilna, grave in the Centre towards Baranovitchi, and good in the South (Gen. Ivanov), where our successes continue. The gravity lies in the terribly weak condition of our regiments, which consist of less than a quarter of their normal strength; it is impossible to reinforce them in less than a month's time, as the recruits will not be ready, and, moreover, there are very few rifles. And the battles continue, and with them the losses.
In spite of this, great efforts are being made to bring up all available reserves from other parts to Dvinsk, to push back the enemy at that place. But again, we cannot rely upon our worn-out railway lines, as in former times. This concentration will only be accomplished towards the 10th or the 12th of September, if, God forbid! the enemy does not appear on the scene there before.
For this reason I cannot decide to come home before the dates indicated. I beg you, my love, do not communicate these details to anyone; I have written them only for you.
Just at this moment, Katov has brought me your dear letter NO. 339, together with another letter for N. P. Be quite calm and sure of me, my darling Sunny. My will is now strong and my brain sounder than before my departure. Yesterday we had a good and conclusive talk with Gor.; you will probably see him on Thursday, when the Duma will be adjourned. He will be able to repeat our conversations — but I have quite forgotten to mention Khvostov. It is better to leave these questions over till my return.
Your charming flowers, which you gave me in the train, are still standing on my table before me, they have only faded a little. That is touching, is it not?
I shall finish this letter to-morrow. Good-night, my love, my little bird!
1 September.
It is a divine day. All the morning, from 10.30 to 12.30, I sat in the Staff Quarters by an open window, as usual, and worked with my Gen. Alexeiev and, to start with, Gen. Potstovoitenko.
Yesterday we made a delightful excursion, crossed the Dnieper on a ferry with our cars, and returned by a different route.
The country and the views are really magnificent, and have a calming effect upon the soul. May God bless you, my beloved and the children! Warmly and tenderly I kiss you and them. Ania too.
Always your old hubby
Nicky.
Above: Nicholas and Alexandra.
Above: Olga.
Above: Alexei.
Above: Grigori Rasputin with his wife Praskovia Dubrovina.
Notes: Alexandra almost always referred to Grigori Rasputin as "our Friend".
Pilz is the German word for mushroom.
